Lancaster Golf Club duo serve up success on a Plate

Lancaster’s Sheila Swindlehurst and Margaret Wild are celebrating the chance pairing that led to them winning the Plate Final of the PING women’s fourball betterball.

The scored 45 points at PING’s Gainsborough Golf Club to win by a point and Wild said: “We are absolutely delighted, it’s just wonderful.”

The duo, members of Lancaster Golf Club, had planned to play with other golfers in their club qualifier – but both their partners had to pull out.

“So fate brought us together and we have a wonderful outcome,” said Wild.

The tournament – which is run by England Golf – attracted entries from more than 15,000 women from upwards of 850 clubs.

The top 50 pairs nationwide qualified for the Grand Final and the next 50 played in the Plate Final.

“We both felt very happy that we had actually got to play here in the Plate Final and obviously this is just the icing on the cake,” added Wild, who plays off 19.

She and Swindlehurst, a 22-handicapper, both play regularly in competitions and represent their club.

This is their first national win, but Swindlehurst has previously played with a different partner in the final of the Coronation Foursomes for GB&I club golfers.

They gelled well in the final, and crucially they birdied the 16th for four points, which proved a useful buffer when they could manage only one point on the par-five 17th.

However, they played steadily for two points on the last for their total of 45 – and then began the long wait to see if it could be bettered.

Their nerves were tested by last group to start from the first tee – but Sandra Cadore and Paulette Rodney of South Beds fell just short with their 44 points. They also had a late birdie for four points – on the 17th – but could only squeeze one point out of the 18th.